The Unexpected Goodbye
by IzziMeyers
Summary: This was written for My Dear Professor McGonagall's Sibling Rivalry Competition.  One-shot.


Molly Weasley was ready to pop out her seventh child any day now. She spent most of her time at the burrow, sleeping in the living room on a magically reinforced, and magically cushioned, camp-bed in order to avoid the several flights of stairs she would otherwise have to climb to reach her bedroom. At the moment, she was dragging herself into the kitchen for yet another serving of her newest invention: corned beef treacle tart, (which strangely enough no one else in the house dared to eat except Ron, who took one bite and burst into tears, never touching corned beef again.) Halfway through her tart, Molly was startled by a knock at the door.

Though she realized that a death eater wouldn't waste their time knocking, she drew her wand and walked slowly forward.

"Who's there?"

"It's me."

Molly wrenched open the door and threw her arms around her younger brother, Fabian. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going abroad for the Order?"

"I'm leaving soon, I just thought I'd stop by and see how little Ginevra's doing," he said while rubbing her stomach. "Gideon says he's sorry he couldn't make it; he had to leave this morning. You know, security measures and all that."

"Oh its fine, I'm used to dealing with the order. Corned beef treacle tart?"

"Er, what?" He asked, eyeing the meaty, syrupy treat suspiciously.

"Nevermind. Come in, come in, have a seat." With a wave of her wand a flagon of Butterbeer and a loaf of bread flew from the counter to the table, and Fabian sat before it.

"So what's the Order up to?" Molly sat across from him after pouring herself a glass of ice water.

"Well, we haven't been doing much for awhile; we're trying to stay low," he said while ripping his chunk of bread into several smaller chunks

"So then what are you and Gideon doing?" She asked cautiously.

He stopped ripping up his bread, but didn't immediately raise his head. When he did, it was to show an expression of calm on his face that Molly didn't entirely believe; she thought she saw worry behind it.

"Nothing big, don't you go worrying."

"How can I not worry?"

"Listen, it's just some routine little-"

"Nothing is routine anymore, Fabian! This is war!"

"Molls," he said softly, abandoning his bread and looking her straight in the eye, "it's nothing. Please don't overreact."

"If it's nothing then why are you here?"

"I just want to make sure you're okay-"

"You know perfectly well that I'm okay, Fabian, I've got a husband and three boys able to take care of me, and the younger three are able to keep themselves occupied well enough. Why are you here?"

Fabian looked as though he were fighting an internal battle, and he was silent for several minutes before eventually speaking.

"We think we know where Dolohov is at the moment. Now, don't start worrying," he added quickly seeing the look on Molly's face, "we think he's by himself. We're not even supposed to confront him, okay? We're just supposed to trail him for awhile to figure out what he's doing abroad. I'm sure Gideon and I will be back in time to see baby Ginevra, so don't worry. The last thing you need right now is to get in a twist over us. We'll be fine."

"I still don't understand why you need to tail him at all; you-know-who is gone-"

"Not according to Dumbledore."

"Well, maybe he's wrong."

"He's not and you know it, Molly. Listen, I won't deny that there are dangers involved with the Order, but these things still need to be done. Dolohov was one of his biggest supporters, and if he's going abroad there's a chance it's not just for a breath of fresh air."

"But what if he knows where you-know-who is? What if he's going abroad to find him? You and Gideon could be walking right into a trap!"

"We're only following him, Molls, if we catch wind of anything like that we'll head back to report it right away."

"But what if you get caught?"

"Molly, come on, what's the worst that could happen?"

"That is the worst that could happen!" At this Molly stood up, sending her chair flying behind her. "There is no need for you two to go trailing after dangerous wizards by yourselves!"

"There's only a small chance of danger, Molly, honestly."

"But there is a chance!"

"There's always a chance!" Fabian also stood and grasped his sister's hands. "There's a chance every time you step outside, and sometimes even before that! These are dangerous times, Molly, but that does not give us the excuse to sit inside and let evil prevail! We have to keep fighting, no matter what the danger, no matter what the price! I know you understand that!"

Molly knew she was fighting a losing battle, and was beginning to have a hard time finding the biting words she wanted to throw at him. No matter what happened, he was right, and she did understand that.

"It's just…you're my little brother."

"And you're my big sister. I'm going to do everything in my power to come back to you, all my nephews, and my one tiny niece," he placed one hand on her protruding belly and looked her in the eye. "Everything in my power, okay?"

"Okay," Molly said, wanting to cry but remaining resolute.

Fabian removed his hand from her stomach and fiddled at his wrist for a moment before pressing something cold and metallic into Molly's hands.

"Your watch? Why are you giving it to me?"

"I just want you to hold on to it for me, until I come back. I've banged it up enough already, I'm not sure it could handle this trip. Just take care of it, okay?"

"Okay." She wasn't sure how she had managed not to cry at this, because as much as she tried to convince herself she didn't, she knew the real reason why he was giving her his watch. The siblings embraced, and Molly showed Fabian out. Before heading back to the living room, she stopped to look out the window and watched her brother walk away. She heard a cry behind her, and turned to find Bill, who had gotten his first Hogwarts letter that morning, using a fork as a pretend wand and hitting Percy over the head with it. By the time she had confiscated the fork, shooed the boys out of the kitchen, and looked back out the window, Fabian was gone.


End file.
